Richie's New, Dark Friend
by Angel of The Fallen Stars
Summary: Richie has a new friend. Problem is he has never met her. They've only been friends through the internet, and when they finally meet what will happen? And how does this new bang-baby, Dark Angel have to do with Richie's new friend?
1. Prologue

Hello everybody! This is my fourth story, and I should really be working on my other stories, but I've had this story idea in my for so long, and I was worried that I might forget it, so…

Here goes nothing.

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Richie's New, Dark Friend

Prologue

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The first Big Bang happened at the pier, and so did the second one. Now, in the first Big Bang there were reported of thirty-eight bang-babies, or meta-humans, (the people affected), but only four in the second.

Or so everyone thought…

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I know, I know. That was a really short prologue, but it is supposed to be that way. I'll update as soon as I can, but I've got other stories to do.

Angel of the Fallen Stars


	2. The First and Second Big Bangs

Hey everyone!

No one reviewed. (Pouts sadly) Oh well!

On to the chapter!

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Richie's New, Dark Friend

Chapter 1: The First and Second Big Bangs

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My life was perfect. (Well, as perfect as an only child can be growing up in a single parent home.) I had caring friends, excellent grades, and a wonderful boyfriend, but then the first big bang happened. I lost my wonderful boyfriend, Francis, now known as Hotstreak, all because he gained the power over fire. He went to jail numerous times, and though I loved him, I just couldn't abide to be his girlfriend, or friend, any longer. I knew he wasn't exactly the best of people, but he would be just so perfect, just for little me. I thought that would never change, but when he became a criminal, I knew that he could never be the same person he was to me ever again.

That's when the second big bang happened. My night had started out horribly; I had been somehow associated with this group of delinquents, who were being chased by the police. We were chased all the way to the pier, and we finally managed to escape from them by hiding in this huge ship. But that's when something horrible happened, the second big bang, right in the ship we were in. We all inhaled a lot of that purple gas. They ran out when an explosion occurred, but I got separated, so I wasn't fast enough to flee. That's how I saw a huge shadow and fire giant as well as Static and Gear. They fought valiantly, and won in the end by throwing that giant in the ocean.

Then those 'superheroes' left, and I was the only person who saw what happened to the giant. When it emerged from the ocean, it wasn't the giant I originally saw, but human-shaped figures. One was a man made out of fading shadows, and the other man's body was covered in growing fire. It seemed as the more the fire grew, the less shadows there was on the other man. It took me less than a minute to recognize them, it was that shadow man Ebon, and Hotstreak! When I realized who he was, I ran as fast as I could. I thanked god (even though I wasn't a religious person) that he didn't see me.

When I got home I knew my perfect would never be the same again. I lost my caring friends; I couldn't go to school anymore for I was sick all the time, and it was all because I was now a bang baby. But thankfully one day I logged onto to my school's online chat room, and I met propensity, my newest friend. And I felt that this friendship would last, and I found myself smiling for the first time in my new terrible life.

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How was it? It was longer, but still pretty short. That's how it was supposed to be though. I hope that all of you who are reading this like it and please review. All you have to do is push the review button!

Angel of the Fallen Stars


	3. Moonlight Angel

Hey everyone!

No one reviewed! Again! (Starts to cry)

I just hope I get some reviews soon. Enjoy the chapter.

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Richie's New, Dark Friend

Chapter 2: Moonlight Angel

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It had been almost two whole months since the second big bang. I had no more friends; it seems none of them would associate themselves with bang babies. And because I couldn't go to school anymore I spent all my time at home. So now, during the day, I would always go onto the internet, mostly to forget about my problems. Then one day, on a whim, I went onto my old high school's chat room, but the only one there was this person named propensity. I was about to sign off, since I really didn't feel like talking to this person, when he started to talk to me. (A/N: since I don't know which emoticons work on here, I'm just going write what emoticons they would've used).

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Propensity: hey, how come you're on now? Are you sick or something?

Moonlight angel: I'm always sick

Propensity: oh, that too bad. You're not going to die, are you?

Moonlight angel: no… so why aren't you at school? You sick too?

Propensity: that's good, and nope, I broke my ankle. So I couldn't go to school without damaging it more. I still have a week left before I can go back to school, so you and I can talk for a whole week! (really happy smile)

Moonlight angel: great…

Propensity: what? You don't want to spend time talking to me? (crying frown) am I really that horrible to spend some time with?

Moonlight angel: I didn't say that…

Propensity: so you will talk to me? (regular smile)

Moonlight angel: I guess so… on one condition

Propensity: which is?

Moonlight angel: your name is propensity, meaning natural tendency, which is a synonym of genius. Are you really a genius? 'Cause if memory serves me correctly there were no geniuses in our school.

Propensity: wow, you must be really sharp to have caught that. I haven't always been a genius.

Moonlight angel: I've never heard of a genius who was a late bloomer, in high school. (suspicious side-glance)

Propensity: you got me there. Truthfully I become a genius after the second big bang. I've been keeping it on the down low, but you saw right through me. please don't tell anyone (sad frown)

Moonlight angel: I won't, whose there to tell? Anyway, we've got to stick together right?

Propensity: you mean you're a bang baby too? What are your powers?

I froze, what are my powers? What should I say? I knew what my powers are, but I can't say what they all are, but maybe…

Moonlight angel: I turn one object into another, and whenever I touch something I learn every single physical detail about it. But because I am a bang baby I can't go outside anymore.

Propensity: oh, how come? (sad frown)

Moonlight angel: for some reason the sun blinds me, and now I can only go outside when it is night.

Propensity: so the moon is like your sun now, and that's probably why you called yourself moonlight angel, right?

Moonlight angel: right

Propensity: but that won't stop you from talking me? (regular smile)

Moonlight angel: not at all (regular smile)

Propensity: good (really happy smile)

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So I made a new friend. I couldn't see him, and he couldn't see me, but we did talk, about a lot of things. Over that week, I learned that his real name was Richie, he was in grade eleven, just like I should be, and that his best friend was a guy named Virgil. I told him a lot as well, actually almost everything, excluding my ex-boyfriend and about my other powers. I didn't feel any guilt though; the reason being that something told me that he was hiding stuff from me as well, so it was all right. We could have our secrets, and I was glad were we friends even though I knew he had to go back to school in a week time's. I actually didn't care about that.

That was until that day he asked me that question…

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Yay! Another chapter is finished! I left it at a small cliffhanger, but oh well, it not like anyone reviews, so I shouldn't worry. Please, could someone review!

Angel of the Fallen Stars


	4. The Meeting

Hey everyone!

Thanks to my reviewers!

Glamek Stalker: thanks, she really is interesting. She's different, but still nice at the same time.

Adam: I haven't written the other chapters yet, silly. Don't worry though, I'll update as fast as I can.

On to the chapter!

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Richie's New, Dark Friend

Chapter 3: The Meeting

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Propensity: so… I'm going back to school tomorrow… (sad frown)

Moonlight angel: yeah… (sad frown)

Propensity: I have an idea

Moonlight angel: what is it?

Propensity: we should meet, tonight!

I was a little shocked at his suggestion, so much that I didn't even realize that I didn't write anything for a couple of minutes, which clearly worried him.

Propensity: umm… you still there?

Moonlight angel: yeah, it's just that I was a little taken aback by your question

Propensity: so that's a no?

Moonlight angel: no…

Propensity: then please? We could meet after sunset, at the school?

Moonlight angel: I guess so…

Propensity: how about at 8:00 p.m.?

Moonlight angel: okay, I'll see you there

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I then signed off the chat room. What was I going to do? I preferred our just talking relationship, but I guess he would prefer to actually see me. I kind of wanted to see him too, but I was still a bit afraid that he might think I looked freaky, or something. I just didn't know if I was ready or not. So I did that only thing I knew to do in this kind of situation, I asked my mom.

"Mom!" I called down from the top of the stairs, which happened to be right where the door of my bedroom was. She came up from her study as fast she could without running, and met me at my door.

"What is it sweetheart? Are you feeling worse? Did something happen?" she asked, so full of concern as she led me back into my bedroom.

"No big disasters mom, no need to worry. I just want some advice, okay?" I replied, calming her down as we sat on my bed. My mom had always been over-protective of me, but it was even worse now that I had become a bang baby.

"Oh, that's a relief," she said, exhaling that breath of worry. "So what kind of advice do you need?"

"You know about that boy, Richie, I have been talking to on the school chat room for the past week?" she nodded, so I continued, "Well, he wants for us to meet, tonight, at the school, and I have already said yes, but I'm unsure. I don't know what to do, should I go, or not?" I asked her, so confused, and a little scared.

She smiled. "I think you should go, and not because you already said you would. You've been a lot cheerful since you started talking to him, and I think this would be a great opportunity. This is just another step in your relationship. So, go," my mom answered.

As she got up, she gave me a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "Just to make sure, bring pepper spray."

I laughed at her saying, "Sure thing." Watching my mom leave, since she knew she was not needed for the moment, I got up myself. Clutching onto the necklace I only ever took off when I got wet or when I went to sleep, I surveyed my room. What was I going to wear?

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I watched her sign off, happy for tonight. Then the doorbell rang. Since closer, and needing to get used to walking again, I called to my mom; "I got it!" Slowly walking to the door, I opened it, and there was Virgil. "Hey Virg," I greeted happily.

"You're sure happy. Did you make a new particle accelerator?" Virgil asked jokingly.

"C'mon dude, you know that was last week," I replied, also joking.

"Of course. So what has made you so happy? You've been stuck in your room for a long time. You couldn't have created any of your new ideas. How come you're happier?" Virgil asked.

"I made a new friend from the school chat room, and she's great," I told him, smiling.

"She? When did you meet this 'she'?" Virgil asked, ginning evilly.

"Last week. We're going to meet tonight, at the school," I replied, like it was nothing. Truthfully I was really stoked about going, and finally meeting her in person. I hope she just didn't lose her nerve.

"Tonight? You mean like a date?" Virgil asked, his evil grin growing. He lightly nudged me in the side with elbow, his eyebrows raising. I knew what he was insinuating.

"What? No! We haven't even met yet!" I argued, a little embarrassed.

"Right…" Virgil said, his evil grin lessening into an evil smirk. He was continuing to quirk his eyebrows at me in that incriminating way.

"Come off it!" I said as I pushed him, playfully. He just laughed at me.

"Seriously though, how well do you know her?" Virgil asked, his voice going suddenly serious.

"Well enough, she even is a bang baby." I told him.

"How do you know she's a bang baby?" Virgil asked.

"Well she told me. Plus, she knew information about the second big bang that only people who were there could have known," I told him, as a way to reassure him. He just didn't know about the connection I felt with her, it would be too difficult to explain.

"Right…" Virgil said, his voice full of concern. I knew he was just worried about me.

"Don't worry about me, I mean it not like she's going to kill me," I said, joking. He gave me a look, and I knew he didn't find it funny.

"Sure. But if anything happens, call me on the shock vox. Immediately," Virgil said sternly.

"No prob, Virg, I'll do that," I told him, smiling. I'm glad he trusted me enough to be able to take care of myself.

"'Kay, have fun," Virgil said, leaving. He still needed to patrol that night anyway. Not to mention he had homework to do, he was a little behind on it without Richie to help him.

"I will."

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I was late. Great, now he's going to think I'm some irresponsible kid. Stupid, stupid me. I just to think positive thoughts. _He's going to like me. He's going to like me. He's going to like me… _But what if he doesn't like me? Calm down, I just got to remember that he's a bang baby too, so he shouldn't care what I look like. I just need to stay calm. I can do this.

I finally reached the school (after many 'he's going to like me' and 'he's not going to like me'). I saw him, hidden underneath a tree, and I turned away, ready to leave, because my nerve just died. That's when he talked to me. "Hey," he said, and I stopped.

I turned back around to face him, as he walked out of the shadow of the tree. And then I could finally see him perfectly. Too shy to look at his face at the moment, I decided to look at his clothes. He was wearing a hooded green sweater with an orange stripe across the chest, as well as on the biceps, connecting with the stripe on his chest. At the collar, you could see the shape of a white T-shirt underneath. (Well, I believed it was a T-shirt.) On his legs were average grey blue jeans, that looked a little faded. Sticking out from the bottom of his jeans were black and white skater sneakers. Finally having enough courage (not to mention I had finished looking at his clothes), I looked up. He had short, naturally messy blonde hair on top of a nicely built face. His blue eyes were shining beneath his glasses, matching the warm smile he was giving me. I caught sight of a glimmer, and noticed he had an earring on his left ear.

"H-hey," I managed to say. True, a little nerdy, but I couldn't help but think he was kind of cute.

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I was a bit early, but that didn't matter. I just really hope she doesn't lose her nerve. I know that she didn't want to meet up, but I think this meeting could help her. When she told me about her 'condition', I began having some ideas on how I could help her with the problem. I just didn't want her to be stuck in her house all day, every day anymore, it drove me crazy just thinking about. When she talked about old life, like dancing ballet and hip-hop, or just walking in the park on a sunny day, you could just tell she missed it dearly. I just want her to be happier.

I hear a noise and, looking up from beneath the tree, I see her. She had lost her nerve, you could tell since she was walking away. "Hey," I say, to make her stop, it works. I come out of the shadows, and finally get a good look out of her.

Her head was down, so I took some time to give her a one over. She was wearing a red turtleneck sweater, underneath large blue overalls, with the bottoms rolled up a few times. Almost hidden underneath the folded part of her bottoms were black and red converse sneakers, ones I actually had been eyeing for a while. What brought me back to look up was this weird necklace she was wearing. It was this deformed heart-shaped pendant on an old string. The heart looked like it had been made in shop class. She had now looked up, and looking at her, she took my breath away. She had beautiful, bright green eyes that had traces of yellow in them that really jumped out at you. Pale skin, with small splashes of almost equally as pale freckles across her cheeks. Framing her face were grey white bangs that ended at the bottom of her ears with a long braid with two black pieces of ribbon intertwining in it. Moonlight shone on her pale hair, and even paler skin, illuminating her beauty. She was just so beautiful, I hope I wasn't gaping at her.

"H-hey," she said to me, her voice shaky from being nervous.

So we finally meet…

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Tada! I've finished another chapter! I need some help though, I can't think of a name for her. Help me! please review and give me your suggestions.

Angel of the Fallen Stars


	5. Jealousy

Hey everyone!

I've been forgetting to add this…

Disclaimer: I do not own Static Shock, just all my own created characters and the plot.

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Richie's New, Dark Friend

Chapter 4: Jealously

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It went better than I thought it would. We got along as well as we did on the computer. True, we had our awkward moments, and I felt a little embarrassed when my powers did their 'thing', but I had, and I know he had too, a really great time. He didn't even mind the way I looked. Actually, I did only catch a glimpse, but I think he finds me beautiful, if that's possible. And all we did was take a walk around the school grounds and the park near it. It was so nice and simple, and he didn't try to rush things at all. He just wrapped his arm around mine, and only when I begun to feel tired and needed some help. He was very considerate, and I kind of found him charming. I even felt somewhat sad when he walked me home.

"I had a great night," I told him, a warm smile on my face. My face was warm as well, mostly from the excitement of being outside with someone my own age again.

"No problem, let's do this again," Richie said to me, this goofy smile on his face. I don't think he realized he had that smile, but I thought it suited him nicely. He almost made me laugh since he was trying to sound nonchalant with that goofy grin on his face. It was almost too much.

Letting the moment get the better of me, I leaned in forward, hands behind my back and on my tiptoes, as I gave him a small peck on the cheek. I dashed into my house after saying a quick good-bye, before I shut the door behind me. I didn't, couldn't, look him in the face. I didn't want him to see own my flushed face, even though it was due to him. Not to mention I knew how he felt when I had kissed him, it would've been too embarrassing. Oh well, I had a great night. And after telling my mom all the details, I just crashed and went straight to bed, sleeping ever so peacefully.

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I had an awesome night. Sure, we just walked and talked, but I was in such a state of bliss just being around her. I knew she was a little nervous and unsure, so I didn't try to do anything she wouldn't have been ready for. I did lock arms with her, but she must've have been really shy as well, for she turned red the first time I touched her. Not that it matters, we had a great time, I really could tell that she enjoyed herself. I felt bad when I had to walk her home, but it was obvious she was getting tired, I didn't want to be rude. Besides, though I would never want to admit it, I was exhausted, and the only reason I was still standing was adrenaline.

When we reach her house she opened the door, but before she goes in she turned around. I see that she had a nice, which I thought was beautiful, smile on her face, and I couldn't help but smile in return.

"I had a great night," she told me.

"No problem, let's do this again," I replied, sounding as nonchalant as I could. I didn't want her to think I was desperate, wanting to see her again, and again, and again.

Just as I thought she was going to leave, she leaned in and placed a small kiss on my cheek. I had barely any time to realize that she had already said good-bye, when she closed the door in front of me. I was dumbfounded. I was feeling a lot of things, so many I thought my heart, and my head, would explode from the positivity. I hadn't even noticed that was mouth was agape, and I was holding onto the place where she kissed me. I assumed she was embarrassed as well, since she left in such a hurry, but that didn't matter.

I managed to get my legs working again, as I returned back to reality. I think my smile grew, as my brain began thinking as many ideas as it could to solve the 'can't go out in the sun' problem. And Virgil had been worried about me, now, I bet, he's going to never stop making fun of me. It was worth it.

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I was furious, who wouldn't be? I had just wanted some time to myself, so I took a night time stroll near the park by my old school. That's when I that loser Virgil's friend, what's his name…? Robert or Richard, or something that started with a 'R'. It didn't really mattered, anyway. And he wasn't alone. No, he had some girl with him, who had grey hair, which either meant he was with a much, much older woman, or he was with a girl who prematurely went grey. But the way he was looking at her, even from a distance, you could tell that boy had it bad for her, so I decided to watch. I honestly don't know why, maybe to see if he would make a fool of himself, or 'cause I was bored.

I followed them all through the park, which wasn't much, since I had only caught sight of them three quarters of the way through. He really was a loser, or really was in love, 'cause he only made one move, and that was to wrap arms with hers. What a sap. Continuing to follow them, I began to notice that this neighbourhood looked really familiar. Next corner we took, and I knew exactly where I was. We were on my girlfriend's street, and they were heading towards my girlfriend's house. They stopped at her house, did she move? No, she loves that house, so… Then the girl turned around, and from the light of doorway illuminated her enough that I could tell who she was. I saw the face, the deformed heart-shaped pendant, but I couldn't believe my eyes. It was my girlfriend Naomi…! And she had grey hair…? What was going on?

Movement caught my eye and interrupted my thoughts, long enough for me to notice when Naomi leaned and gave that guy a peck on the cheek. A peck on the cheek! I felt my body burn with loathing, as I watched that loser walk away, after taking forever to return to planet Earth. I wanted to burn every last piece of his being, just for being in love with her! Naomi was my girlfriend. I won't accept this bull about her breaking up with me. I could tell she had a good time, so I know I have to get rid of him. It'll be so easy to break him, and then kill him. And Naomi and I will be together once more. Just like it should be.

Hotstreak grinned as he thought of the perfect way to get rid of this pest, and have Naomi return to him, winning her heart back in the process.

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Done! Yay! Looks like Hotstreak is jealous. Not a goof combination. Jealousy and having such a short temper, especially with his power over fire… Someone is definitely going to get hurt. Please review!

**Reviewers: **

Glamek Stalker: sorry about not being clear enough, I hoped I fixed the problem. Thanks for offering the name Erika, but I have decided that since my best friend Naomi gave me this idea, that she should bear the name of this character.

Angel of the Fallen Stars


	6. New Friends, New Enemies?

Hey everyone! I'm back!

I know that all my chapters have been in first person, but this chapter is in third. But it still is associated more with Naomi than anyone else.

Disclaimer: I don't own Static Shock, DC Comics does, so don't sue me, 'kay?

On to the chapter!

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Richie's New, Dark Friend

Chapter 5: New Friends… New Enemies?

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The next day, Naomi was lounging around the house, while her mom was at work, content with life. She was even content with the fact that even though all the blinds were down, Naomi still had to wear sunglasses so her eyes wouldn't hurt. That's when the doorbell rang. Contemplating rather to answer it or not, Naomi decided to answer it, in case it was her mom forgetting something or maybe Richie (it was the weekend). She opened the door and, to her surprise, the teenagers who she had been mistakenly associated with were there. "What do you want?" Naomi asked frustrated and in pain. The sunglasses she was wearing helped, but the agony of the sun at high noon was too much for her to handle for long.

"To talk," one girl said. Her black hair was as long as Naomi's bangs, which were spiked up and out with the tips of every end dyed luminescent blue. She had dark, almost goth-like, eyeshadow and lipstick that almost stood out as much her brilliant blue-green eyes on that pale face of hers. On her thin body was a tight, black T-shirt with a skull and cross-bones on the middle with blood red roses burning around it. Her ripped black jeans, with numerous zippers in various places, was baggier than her shirt, but still could be considered 'tight'. She even had all black converse sneakers and a black leather, dull studded choker. The only colour on her, excluding her eyes and tips of her hair, were these many multi-neon coloured rubber bracelets that glowed in the dark. Not even her many studs and small hoops on her ears, and eyebrow, were colourful. It was almost like the only colour in her wardrobe was black.

"Why?" Naomi asked, the pain getting worse. Her knuckles were pure white from gripping the doorframe so hard.

"Are you all right?" a boy asked. He too had little colour on him. He was wearing a very baggy, even on his broad shoulders, dark grey hoodie with what looked like a black T-shirt underneath. He also had black jeans, with numerous zippers in various places, but his were neither ripped nor tight. It looked like he had the boy version of this type of jeans, while she, obviously, had the girl version. He wore plain, brown airwalk, skater shoes, with one of them hidden, for it was holding his skateboard up. On the bottom of the board, which could be easily seen, were roses set ablaze due to a lightning strike. Naomi couldn't help but notice the similarity between the girl's shirt and this boy's skateboard design. What really caught Naomi's attention were his physical features. While he wore the bear minimal of colour, he had extremely orange curly, kind of frizzy, hair, and had so many freckles that his pale skin appeared tan. Though his strange grey eyes and four sterling rings, three on his left ear and one on his nose, did match with his barely any colour scheme.

"Is it because of the Big Bang?" another girl asked. She looked totally different from the first two. It wasn't just that she had shoulder length, blonde hair, which was tied into two small ponies, or that she had the brightest, mischievous blue eyes either. It was because she was actually wearing colour! She was sporting a bright fuchsia pink, thin strapped, tank top; underneath a white blouse that had it sleeves rolled up to her elbows and had been scrunched up so that it only covered her chest area while was tied right under her cleavage. This gave people a clear view of her midriff, which included her intricate pink butterfly belly button ring. Her two earrings on each ear seemed to match her belly button ring with them both being pink and butterfly-shaped. She was also wearing faded blue jeans that were extremely ripped in the knees, showing off fuchsia pink, the same as her shirt, and black stripped tights. She even had matching fuchsia sneakers, in which someone had taken a black sharpie to them.

Naomi just nodded. Walking back into her house, Naomi motioned for them to follow her and come in. Strangely only six of them did: the three she had spoken with and two guys and a girl. The three others stayed outside in the porch.

The first boy had, what it seemed to be, natural green hair that was just long enough to put in a small pony at the back. Even though his bangs were slightly in his eyes, you could tell that his eyes weren't exactly… normal. Not only were his eyes a golden colour, but they looked more cat-like than like those of a human. His golden eyes, white fangs that were noticeable even when he didn't smile, and his lip ring stood out against his dark skin. Naomi also couldn't help but notice that, sticking out of his green hair, were pointed ears that, could've, reminded someone of a cat. Ironically, he was wearing a black Felix the Cat T-shirt over top of a long-sleeved grey shirt. He also had on grey camouflage cargo pants, and old, black army boots that instead of the laces in their holes, they were just tied around the tongue and the outside of the boots. Plus he had claws, instead of normal nails.

The other boy was an Asian goth. He had short black hair that stuck out a little at the sides, and was streaked here and there with red. Even though his one brown eye and one black eye already stood out, he still wore black eyeliner to have them stand out even more. He was wearing a blood red buttoned-up shirt, with the end of the sleeves having wicked designs on them that looked like they had been added on later with black ink. He had on pinstriped black pants with detachable black suspenders on, hanging from the waist. He also had on black combat boots, nicely tied up, partially hidden beneath his pants. He also had six earrings on each ear, with one chain earring that connected to his lip ring.

The girl had long, natural looking, pink hair that was done in many varying sized braids. In the midst of all those braids was a green camouflaged pattern headband. Like the boy that reminded Naomi of a cat, this girl had animal qualities to her as well. Her blazing green eyes had slit pupils as well, but weren't as cat-like. She also had fangs, though hers seemed larger and were shaped differently. Her pointed ears weren't shaped differently, actually they looked the exact same. Her skin was also dark, but lighter than his, with dark pink stripes on her arms. And she also had claws instead of nails, but hers were bulkier, stronger. She had on a long olive green, thick strapped, tank top on. Covering her upper torso was a fishnet styled, see through black, long-sleeved shirt. She wore a matching, green camouflage, jean skirt and black and green kick boxing styled boots that reached just above her mid-calf. If Naomi had to guess which animal they were like, it would be that the girl was like a canine, while the boy was like a feline.

Following Naomi into the living room, the group of delinquents sat down on the couches. Being a large living room, no one had trouble finding a seat. Actually, the living room was made to seat ten, exactly the number of people here, if you included the three outside. With Naomi already getting a good look at them, one of them, the girl with black and blue hair, began to speak. "We've been looking for you these past two months," she said, breaking the silence that had enveloped them.

"Is it because of the second Big Bang? But how did you find me?" Naomi asked. Why would anyone be so interested in her that they would look for her for two whole months?

"Before we answer that, why don't we introduce ourselves? You already know who we are, right?" the boy, with orange hair, said. It seemed that underneath his dark skater demeanour, he was a pretty polite and nice guy.

"Yes, you're the group of people that were chased into that ship with me." Naomi said. She made sure not to say the word 'delinquents', 'cause she didn't really know if they were, and it might offend them. "I'm sure you know who I am, if you found me, but, just in case, my name is Naomi. So please, tell me who you guys are."

"I'm Rain," the girl with the black and blue hair started. "This is William (orange haired guy), Tabitha or Tabby (blonde haired girl), Tobey (green haired guy), Dustin (goth guy), and Maya (pink haired girl)." Each responded in their own way as to say hello, either with a nod of the head, waving their hand, or actually saying 'hi'.

"Nice to meet all of you," _I think, _Naomi added in her head. She was still unsure whether to trust them or not, but they didn't seem bad, she was getting no negative vibes from them, and Naomi was good at telling about that sort of thing. "So, how were you able to find me?"

"Well, after that night, we were kind of worried about you." Rain started. She was doing most of the talking, and from the way she held herself, and how the others responded to her, she was clearly the leader of this… group. "And one of us recognized you from somewhere. It was from school, so we searched for you for the next couple of weeks, but we couldn't find you anywhere."

"That's when I, being friends with some people from the yearbook class, saw you in the recognition section of next year's yearbook," the blonde girl, Tabby, interrupted. That would have offended some people, but Rain took it in stride and didn't stop her from continuing. "It was of you winning this really big dance competition. So we were able to find out your name, and then Maya remembered that you were in her English class."

"So I managed, after a lot of sweet talking, and brown nosing, to get your address from our English teacher. You may not remember me though, I didn't look like this before the Big Bang." Maya added, ignoring the fact that Tabby looked peeved that someone had interrupted her. Naomi stared at her for a few seconds, now that you mention it… If Maya had auburn hair and brown eyes, she would look like someone that Naomi shared English with.

"I spoke with a few of your friends," William started, getting Naomi's attention away from Maya. Naomi cringed on the inside; she didn't really want to hear what he had to say. "They said that due to… difficulties, you were stuck at home, and they just been too busy to talk you." Naomi felt like crying; even softened it still hurt to hear her friends no longer want to see her. "I'm sorry," William added. Naomi gave him a small smile, she had been right; he was a nice guy.

"As you probably can tell, we were affected by the Big Bang, and we can tell so were you. So, we just wanted to know if you wanted to join our gang of bang babies, but only if you want to of course." Rain offered. Even without saying, Naomi could read between the lines. She knew that Rain would not be angered if Naomi did not join their group, even though she now knew their secret identities. Naomi could tell that they were trusting her with this fact, and that meant a lot to her.

"I really appreciate the offer, but I can't join you." Naomi could feel the disappointment when she said that. "It's not that I won't join you, I honestly can't. I just can't leave the house during the day. William had noticed that I was in pain just from being slightly outside, well that's because the sun blinds me. Even wearing sunglasses, I would go blind if I went completely outside. I'm sorry," Naomi finished. Though she had only known them for about ten minutes, she honestly liked them, and if they weren't going to kill anyone or commit too harsh of crimes, then Naomi wouldn't mind joining them. Bang babies do need to stick together if they're going to survive the judgement of this town.

"That's sucks, major. I think all of us agree when I say that you would fit right in with our group," Tobey said, the others agreeing.

"Well, if I could go into the sunlight for a few minutes I would have no trouble helping you guys out. I mean, my powers just need to charge and then the sun would not be a problem at all. It's just I need to find a way to stay in the sunlight long enough so I can charge my powers up without going blind," Naomi said, trying to be optimistic. She really did want to join them.

"Really? What's your power anyway?" Tobey asked. Naomi noticed that Dustin had not said a single word, which gave her the impression that he was the 'silent type'.

"Actually, it's powers. I have two forms, this form and the form I take after charging my power. In this form I can change one thing into another thing, as long as it's not living. I don't know if I can change living objects, but I really don't want to try. Also, because of this power, when I touch something I learn every physical detail about it," Naomi started. This earned a snort of laughter from Dustin. "What's so funny?" Naomi asked.

"When you say everything, do you really mean everything?" Dustin asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Naomi asked, unable to understand what he meant. Dustin just laughed harder. "What?"

"So, let's say you touched a guy. Would you really learn _**everything**_?" Dustin asked, quirking his eyebrows in a suggested way. He was smiling so sinisterly when he said 'everything' that, everyone else was interested as well. Naomi, knowing what he meant and already having experienced that before, blushed redder than a tomato, totally embarrassed. Dustin couldn't help but laugh even harder.

"Dustin!" Tabby yelled at him, punching him hard on the arm. Dustin stopped laughing, before giving Tabby a look. "What? I would love to have that power. It would help me leaf through the non-desirables." Dustin replied, his smirk returning. Naomi blinked; did that mean Dustin was…?

"Dustin, you have a boyfriend! Have you completely forgot about Travis? I know he leaves in Gothom City, but come on!" Tabby scolded, clearly aggravated. Sighing, Tabby looked towards Naomi. "Sorry about that. Dustin is an ass, and a perv." She gave him a stern look. "Travis is the only one who can keep him behaving on normal people's standards." Dustin just shrugged at her, not caring how he acted.

"On, okay," Naomi said, a little confused, and still a little embarrassed. She was just happy that all the attention had gone away from her ability to be an accidental pervert.

"You never did tell us what your powers are when you're in your other form," Rain said, bringing them back on topic. Beside Naomi, William added in a whisper, "Tabby can sort of keep Dustin from being too bad, so you don't need to worry about him." Naomi nodded in thanks.

"Right, sorry. When I charge up my dark energy, I gain protection from the sun. Not to mention that my dark energy can act similar to fire, but also can melt just about anything," Naomi said.

"How does your dark energy give you protection from the sun?" Tobey asked. Naomi wondered if his curiosity was due to him being like a cat.

"Well, when I'm fully charged, my hair and eyes become pure black, so my eyes act as their own sunglasses," Naomi replied. "So, what are your powers?" Naomi then asked.

"Collectively, Will and I can create storms. I create the lightning, and Will creates the rain." Rain said, speaking for both of them.

"I make time bombs of different sizes that blow up at any time I will them to." Tabby said, creating one of her bombs in her hand. It was white with parts of the rainbow in it. As quick as she made it, it disappeared within her closed hand.

"I've got cat-like reflexes, I can see in the dark, and I have aerobic abilities similar to those of a cat. I also have claws that are pretty sharp. Not to mention I have some physical traits of a cat," Tobey said, smiling. He was smiling to show off his fangs, as to prove his point.

"I can make people's worse fears come to life," Dustin said, nonchalantly. It didn't seem to bother him that his powers could be very devastating to a human's psyche.

"I have dog-like hearing and sense of smell. I have aerobic abilities as well, but I don't know if dogs are as aerobic as I am. I also have claws that are as sharp as Tobey's, but mine are stronger. I do share physical traits with dogs as well," Maya said, showing off her superior claws. Tobey acted like he didn't care, but you could tell he did.

"Do you guys have codenames as well, like Gear and Static?" Naomi asked.

"Rain and I are called the Storm Twins," William said, this time speaking for both of them. Naomi thought their codename was strange, they looked nothing alike.

"Boomer."

"Catseye."

"Nightmare."

"Wolfy." Naomi giggled at the codename. "What? You think you can do better?" Maya asked, offended. Truthfully, this wasn't the first time her codename had been made fun of, and it hurt.

"Umm, Dark Angel?" Naomi said, saying the first thing that came to her mind.

"That's a lot better than 'Wolfy'," Tobey said, wagging his finger at her. Maya gave him a look, before sticking her tongue out at him. It was a very immature response from both of them.

"As you can see, they love each other," Dustin said, smirking once again. Dustin then imitated Tobey by wagging his finger at Tabby, and then Tabby imitated May by giving Dustin the exact same look that Maya gave Tobey before she stuck her tongue out at Dustin. They then burst into laughter. It was an even more immature response than those of Tobey and Maya.

"We are not in love!" Tobey and Maya yelled at the same time. They looked at each other distastefully, before giving a great huff of annoyance, turning around so they didn't face each other, and then crossed their arms. What made these actions hilarious is that they did them all in at the exact same time. Not many people who were in love are as in synch as these two. Naomi had to force herself not to start laughing.

"See?" Tabby argued, barely holding her laughter in. Dustin didn't even bother; he was laughing hysterically, bobbing his head in agreement. Even William and Rain were trying to not smile at them.

As the four of them began to fight, William whispered to Naomi, "Tabby and Dustin have been friends since they were four. And Maya and Tobey have been aerobatic, gymnastic, partners since they were ten."

"Oh."

"You can really tell. Tabby and Dustin aren't that bad when their fighting, but those two… they fight, well, like cats and dogs. It's ironic considering." Rain whispered in Naomi's other ear. She then whistled louder than Naomi had ever heard someone whistle, enough to get Tobey, Maya, Dustin, and Tabby's attention, so they would stop fighting for a second to hear her out. "Could you four stop acting like children for five minutes?" Rain asked them.

Tabby and Dustin smugly shook their heads, smiling, as they replied 'no'. Maya and Tobey looked a little ashamed, mumbling something about not being children. Rain said, smiling, "Thank you."

With everyone calming down, Naomi glanced towards the door. It bothered her that people were just waiting outside. "Why didn't those three come in with you guys?" Naomi asked.

"Oh, they just won't come in. Two of them don't like coming in people's houses, or be near new people 'cause they look, well, different. And the other one won't go in without them, she doesn't think it's fair that they're all alone. So they stay outside," William explained.

"Yeah, and they usually miss on a lot of things, so we have to explain it to them later. It can be a pain sometimes," Tabby said. It sounded like Tabby wasn't really annoyed by this; actually, it seemed more like she agreed with their decision.

"I see," Naomi said, standing up.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Tobey asked.

"To invite my other guests in," Naomi said as she opened the door. Outside were two girls and a boy, as far as she could tell. Two of them, one boy and one girl, wore huge hooded sweaters to cover themselves, while the other girl wore normal clothing. Naomi could tell they were confused why she was there all alone. Though the pain was great, Naomi lifted up a hand and began concentrating.

Fascinated, both the people outside and the people inside watched as Naomi's fingernails began to turn black. As one of the people outside was about comment on her 'amazing' powers, the blackness covering Naomi's fingernails, one by one, reached the tip of the nail and flicked out until the top of each finger had a small flame of black energy. Trying her best to ignore the sun and its agonizing glare, Naomi forwarded every ounce of dark energy she was charging into her hand. Within thirty seconds, Naomi's whole hand was ablaze with black fire.

"Why are you standing out here? You are my guests, please come in," Naomi said. Even though she was smiling, Naomi was in so much pain. Her smile, which had meant to look inviting, scared the heck out of them all, it looked deranged! Frightened by her smile, and even more afraid of what she can do with her flaming hand of black fire, the three outside rushed inside as fast as they could.

Closing the door, Naomi smiled again, this one less frightening. "Good, now take off those awful sweaters!" Naomi said. The two in the sweaters looked at the others for help, but they were just as afraid and would not, could not, help. They then looked back at Naomi, who was still smiling, her hand still on fire. Sighing, the two finally took off their sweaters, pleasing not just Naomi. The others wanted those two not to be ashamed of how they looked, and hopefully Naomi would help them with that. When the sweaters were fully off, Naomi knew why they didn't want people to see them. Unlike Tobey and Maya, who were more human than animal, these two were more animal than human.

The girl who had taken off her sweater looked a lot like a lizard. She had green scaly skin that looked like it protected her all but the deepest of cuts. Her hands had claws, like Tobey and Maya, but hers weren't just claws, it looked like they also had some kind of webbing on the fingers, maybe like those of a chameleon. Naomi didn't know if it was on purpose or not, but some of her tongue was sticking out of her mouth, and you could tell that the tongue was very long. She had black eyes, and instead of one eyelid, she had two eyelids on each eye, meeting in the middle when she blinked. Her dark brown hair just hung on her head; she hadn't even comb it, probably because she thought no one would see her without her hoodie. She had on a crusty grey T-shirt with a black dragon in the centre of it. She also had on a pair of faded dark blue jeans that were a little wrinkled, maybe she no longer cared what she wore now that she looked like this. She had sandals on, since she had long claws instead of toes, which looked like it could easily cut through any kind of sneaker. Naomi didn't know whether her toes had the webbing as well.

The boy who had taken off his sweater looked a lot like an eagle or a falcon. He was extremely pale, his clammy skin was almost pure white, and sometimes you thought you could see right through 'cause of this. His short, messy hair was actually pure white, so you could tell that the boy did have some pigment in his skin. What really caught Naomi's attention were his piercing golden amber eyes that looked like they saw all. His upper lip covered his lower, formed into a point that made you think he had a beak even though he still had lips. Underneath his baggy black shirt, there was a hump in the back. At the end of his shirt you could see the ends of dark grey and white wings folded in so he could wear clothing. He also wore long, baggy black shorts, which really stood out against his pale skin. He wore no shoes, but no wonder, the boy had large talons on his feet, and Naomi wondered how he was able to walk on them. He did, however, have no talons on his hands; they were just plain old, really pale hands.

Now the last girl, she was like Tabby, in actually wearing colour. Though she did look like one of those top of the class, goodie two-shoes, daddy's girls. Of course, Naomi mused, on days she looked like that too. She had shoulder length, wavy brown hair with one side behind her multi-studded ear with the assistance of cutesy flower clips. She was one of the few in the group to not wear make-up, only having shiny lip-gloss that matched her hazel eyes, somehow. She was wearing a light blue T-shirt with a cute cartoon butterfly on it. She also wore white Capri's with butterflies made of sparkles at the ends. Out of place, were these midnight blue converse sneakers that had butterflies draw on with white out. When she moved, she jingled, for she wore many different coloured metal bangles around her wrists and arms. Naomi had never met anyone in her life that loved butterflies this much.

Still shy about their appearances, the lizard girl and the eagle boy took their seats on the last remaining love seat. The butterfly girl had already taken her place beside Tabby. Naomi watched as she began to cuddle with Tabby, and Naomi wondered if they were together. If could explain Tabby's butterfly jewellery. Sitting back down in-between Will and Rain, Naomi smiled at them. "Thank you. Why not tell me your names, and maybe powers?"

Encouraged by Naomi's kindness and acceptance, but still a little shy, the other two let the butterfly girl go first. "Well, my name is Sarah. My codename is Flutter, in which I can communicate with insects. They help me out by swarming together and defending me. Or they can do reckon." Sarah smiled after she finished her spiel. Though she talked a little ditzy, Naomi could tell from her vocabulary that she was in fact intelligent. Nodding, Sarah signalled for the other two to talk.

Looking at each other, they didn't need to speak to decide who would go first. That silent communication was rare. "I'm Keith. My codename is, well, Eagle. I look like an eagle, and um, I can fly. My talons are also really strong, and currently my weight limit is a car, but I may be able to lift heavier stuff. I also sometimes can understand the language of birds, I'm still working on it," Keith said, a little fast. He was very nervous, but holding the hand of his best friend comforted him.

When Keith finished, the lizard girl took a deep breath before starting. "I'm Claire, and my codename is Scaleface. I share many traits with lizards, mostly with my appearance. I have really tough skin; it's actually fire proof. My claws are almost indestructible, being able to cut through anything. Um, I have a long tongue, which really isn't important. I can sort of stick to surfaces, so I can climb a building pretty fast. Yeah, that's it…" Claire said, faster than Keith did. Naomi thought that they couldn't act this shy just because of their appearance, could they just generally have trouble with people?

After the icebreaker questions of everyone's names and powers, the group began to talk for hours. Naomi could tell that Rain and Will liked each other, but would never admit it. They also are the 'leaders' of this group, with Rain being the first leader and Will being the second leader. Tabby and Sarah are a couple, and Sarah isn't as goodie two-shoes as she would seem. She actually is worse than Tabby. Dustin and Tabby do fight, but it's like sibling rivalry. Dustin is an ass to everyone, but they all take it in stride, used to his behaviour. Maya and Tobey do fight constantly; so much that Naomi wonders why they haven't jumped each other yet. Though everyone keeps those two in check, so they don't destroy property. Keith and Claire are both home-schooled because they both have anxiety issues. Claire and Keith actually met during a group therapy session, and have been best friends ever since. Their relationship is borderline romance though, and everyone can't wait when they finally hook up. Naomi wondered how these wonderful people could ever be mistaken for delinquents.

After a few good hours of talking, and spending time with each other, Naomi realized the time. "Guys? I don't want to sound rude, but my mom is coming home soon, and I don't think she would exactly be… all right with you guys just yet," she said, giving them a sheepish smile.

"Don't feel bad at all, my dad still doesn't know that I'm a lesbian," Sarah said in her ditzy voice, chuckling. Standing up, everyone said their good-byes. Naomi walked them all to the door, and watched as they left.

"If I can find a way to go outside longer enough to charge up, I'll let you know! Then I can officially join you guys!" Naomi called out to them.

"All right!" one of them called back. Naomi smiled as she shut the door. She wasn't alone anymore! True, she had Richie, but she wasn't being completely honest with him. She felt she could be honest with these people, and be able to hang out with them easily. Naomi didn't have a care in the world today, and her mother wondered what her daughter had been up to today.

To be continued…

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Tada, I'm finished! Looks Naomi has some awesome new friends. Her luck is really turning around for her.

Reviewers:

TeenWriter14: thanks for the support! Maybe I'll have Hotstreak ruin one of Naomi and Richie's dates, hmmm… (thinks evilly).

Glamek Stalker: thanks, and don't worry, everyone is random once and a while. I know I sure am.

Angel of the Fallen Stars


	7. Accidents, New Hopes, and Painful Memori...

Hey everyone! After such a long wait, I've finally updated! Sorry for all my readers, I hope this makes it up for you!

Disclaimer: I do not own Static Shock, so please don't be mean and sue me. I'm just a poor little writer.

On to the chapter!

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Richie's New, Dark Friend

Chapter 6: Accidents, New Hopes, and Painful Memories

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_Almost done, just one more adjustment…_

"Ah-ha! I'm done, finally!" Richie exclaimed happily. He had just finished his present for Naomi. It was genius! (Excuse the pun). They looked like regular sunglasses, but instead of blocking the sun's rays; they took them in and turned the day into night through the lenses. Though she could not actually see the day, she could at least have her other four senses experience day once more. Naomi now would have no trouble going outside, just as long as she kept those sunglasses on. Richie placed them down on the counter, just as Virgil, in his Static costume, came in.

"Man, that has to be one of the most boring patrols I've ever been on!" Virgil complained, groaning.

"What no bad guys? No damsels in distress? Not even a kitty stuck in a tree?" Richie asked turning around to face Virgil, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

"That's right! Not even a kitty stuck in a damn tree! Man! I know this sounds crazy, but I wish there were more bang babies out there to fight. I mean, there hasn't been a major crisis in two whole months! I'm getting bored out there!" Virgil complained even more, taking off his mask, and jumping onto the counter.

"Wait! Virgil! Don't sit on the- _**'CRUNCH!' **_That's all Richie could say before Virgil sat on Naomi's sunglasses. Richie's reaching arm and head drooped instantly. "Great…"

"Whoops, my bad," Virgil said sheepishly, getting up and gingerly picking up the now broken sunglasses, and all its pieces. "Was this your latest project?"

"Yes! And you totally trashed it! I spent three whole days working on those! Be more careful!" Richie said, nearly snarling, before he took the sunglasses and all its pieces from Virgil.

"What's so important 'bout them anyway?" Virgil asked, sitting down back on the counter, after looking to make sure he wouldn't sit on anything first. Virgil was slightly afraid of his friend at the moment, and only explaining about his newest creations usually calmed him down.

"They _**were **_Naomi's present," Richie said, placing the sunglasses and its pieces on another table, where backpack did a diagnostic scan of them, to ascertain the damage down by Virgil's thoughtless act. Reading the report, Richie said, "Oh, you are lucky. They can be repaired in day." Virgil sighed in relief; he would hate to suffer the wrath of Richie at the moment.

Richie then got up taking his not robotic backpack, and started heading for the door when Virgil asked, "Hey! Where are you going?"

"I'm going to see Naomi. That's the whole reason I was making her those sunglasses," Richie explained, opening the door.

"They're really special, aren't they?" Virgil asked, just before Richie could exit out of the door.

Richie turned around and let out a tired sigh; he had been working non-stop on these. "They can turn day into night. Those sunglasses are, correction, were the only thing that would allow her to go outside," Richie explained before heading out the door, closing it with an audible _**'SLAM'**_. Virgil cringed.

---

Naomi was doing a few stretches, getting ready to practise some dance moves, when the doorbell rang. Since she was the only one home, and Richie said he was coming over, Naomi ran upstairs to answer the door. Opening the door, there was Richie with a bouquet of orange-red roses. "Wow, Richie. Roses already? What are they for?" Naomi asked, taking the roses from him, and inhaling them deeply. "They're lovely," she added, smiling.

"I didn't bring them," Richie said, a small frown on his face.

"Pardon?" Naomi asked, bringing her head up from smelling the roses.

"I didn't bring them. I found them on your doorstep," Richie explained. "Who do you know who would give you roses?" he then asked.

"There was no note?" Naomi asked. Richie just shook his head. Naomi looked down at the roses, a grim look on her face. Then all of the sudden she smiled, making that grim look seem like it was just part of Richie's imagination. "Well, it's probably one of my great-aunts, they always send me presents late," Naomi explained.

"You sure?" Richie asked, not convinced.

"Of course! Only my great-aunts would get me strange coloured roses," Naomi clarified, heading towards the kitchen in search of a vase to put the roses in. Richie entered the house, closing the door behind him. After the roses were placed in a vase full of water, in the main hall, Naomi and Richie went into the living room.

---

Outside, Hotstreak was smiling like a madman, from seeing the look on that loser's, Richie (he remembered his name), face when he found the roses. He knew that Naomi would know who the sender was from the colour of the rose. He always got her orange-red roses, ever since her first dance recital he went to. It was a tradition, and even though he knew she would lie about the sender, he didn't care. He had given Naomi a message that only those two would understand. He wasn't going to give her up without a fight, and she knew it.

_This is going to get interesting… _Hotstreak thought as he headed to towards the place he was staying at.

---

"I haven't seen you in a while. Anything happen over these past few days?" Naomi asked, getting their conversation going.

"Well, I made you a present…" Richie started off.

"But?" Naomi added.

"But, Virgil sat on it," Richie said, a bit depressed and angry at the same time. He really wanted to give it to her!

"It's okay, you don't have to get me anything," Naomi said, giving Richie a comforting pat on the back.

"But I worked so hard to make it for you!" Richie whined, well, only a little bit.

"You made it?" Naomi asked, amazed someone would do that for her. "What does it does?"

"I made you sunglasses, that, well basically, turn day into night. So you can go outside," Richie explained, a little sad he couldn't deliver it right now.

"You did!?" Naomi exclaimed happily. She couldn't hold all her excitement in and begun to bounce on the spot, smiling greatly. "Thank you!"

"Don't thank me just yet, I still have to fix it. Be excited when I actually give them to you, okay?" Richie said smiling. Her excitement and cheerfulness was contagious.

Naomi nodded her exuberantly. Just as she was about to say something, some unknown sound reached their ears. It seemed to be coming from Richie. "Oh, sorry that my pager."

"You have a pager?" Naomi asked, a little confused.

"Well, yeah. I can't afford a cellphone, all right? Anyway, this is Virgil's sound byte. I just remembered I had promised to help him with his homework." Richie said, giving Naomi a apologetic look. Richie felt guilty lying to her, but if people found his secret identity, it could lead to disaster.

"It's fine, go, be smart." Naomi said, smiling. Richie, still not wanting to rush anything, gave Naomi a caring squeeze on her arm. Richie left right after that. Naomi frowned when he was gone. It was just a small glimpse, but for some reason Richie was feeling guilty. What could be feeling guilty about, and over her? Naomi knew he was hiding something from her, something important, and even though Naomi hadn't 'seen' it yet, she would prefer him telling her. But whatever it was, it still worried her. She wondered what it could be…

Returning to her room, Naomi spotted the piece of paper that held Rain's number on it. Last time she had seen them, Rain had given her number, so Naomi could contact her if she found a way to go outside, or if she just wanted to talk. Picking up her phone, Naomi punched in the numbers written on the piece of paper. The phone rang a couple of times before someone answer it. "Hello?"

"Hi, this is Naomi, I'm wondering if I can speak with Rain," Naomi said politely. She was keeping her excitement in check.

"Speaking. What can I do for you Nomes?" Rain asked.

"Nomes?"

"It's your new nickname," Rain explained.

"All right. anyway, you know my trouble about the whole sun thing, right?" Naomi continued when she heard Rain answer with a 'uh-huh'. "Well, I'm getting a pair of sunglasses that turn day into night. So now I can go outside!"

"That's great!" Rain exclaimed.

"They should be ready in a few days, so I'll be able to hang out with you guys real soon!" Naomi said.

"All right. I'll tell the others. How about we see each other tomorrow or the day after?" Rain asked.

"Sure! I've got to go now, so I'll see you and the others real soon!" Naomi said.

"Bye." They both hung up, and Naomi went downstairs for a drink of something. All of a sudden she was just so thirsty from the excitement of it all. Naomi passed the roses, and she instantly felt her smile dropped. She picked up the roses, and dumped them in the garbage. She then dumped the water in the vase down the sink, cleaned the vase, and then placed it back in the cabinet.

Naomi went back up to her room, no longer thirsty. She then went into her closet, looking for her box that held all her most painful mementoes of her memories. Finding it, she opened it up and looked inside. Most of the stuff in the box was of her late father, and of Francis. She rummaged through it all until she found her favourite and one of her most painful memory of him. It was from about two years, just after she had entered high school; Francis was a year older. It was the first dance recital Francis ever saw of hers, and he had got her a beautiful bouquet of orange-red roses. The picture of this memory was of her holding the roses and giving Francis a kiss on the cheek. That's probably when they officially become a couple.

She put back the picture, closed the box, and put it back in her closet. She fell down on her bed thinking.

_Francis, what are you planning on doing? _

To be continued…

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So? How was that? I know this chapter was shorter than the last, but I have a case of the writer's block, so sue me. No…wait, please don't sue me. I sort of left it a cliffhanger, I am trying to get more character and story development in. That's important too, you know. Some chapters may be a bit boring, so bear with me.

Reviewers:

Glamek Stalker: thanks, I really wanted you to get a clear picture in your head of what my original characters look like. And it's okay, everyone gets headaches, no need to apologize. thanks for the review, and I know this is late, but writer's block is evil.

Angel of the Fallen Stars


	8. Hanging Out

Hey everyone! Sorry my updates took so long! Writer's block is murder!

Disclaimer: I do not own Static Shock, so please don't sue me. I do, however, own my original characters and the plot.

On to this chapter!

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Richie's New, Dark Friend

Chapter 7: Hanging Out

---

"How's that?" Maya asked, handing Naomi a mirror. Maya had just placed a few little braids here and there in Naomi's hair, with green and blue beads attached to all of them. It was similar to Maya's own hairstyle, but was still different.

"It's great I really like it," Naomi said smiling, placing the mirror down.

"Well, I don't like it," Dustin commented, getting their attention.

"How come?" Maya asked.

"Because it reminds me of you," Dustin replied, causing Tabby to giggle. Just as Maya was going to attack him, Tobey grabbed her arm, and held her back. Maya gave Tobey a look, yanking her arm out of his hold, defeated, before giving Dustin the evil eye.

Getting up from the floor, Naomi sat back down in her 'assigned' seat between Will and Rain. Since the first day, everyone kept to where they had sat, like it was normal not to shake things up between these teens. It wasn't like it would make a difference. Will and Rain would still be keeping everyone in check, Tabby and Dustin would be fighting with Tobey and Maya, Keith and Claire would be together, and Sarah would be sticking to Tabby like glue. And of course, Naomi would be the new one who was the odd one out, but still well liked.

"Is it really true that you'll be able to go outside soon?" Claire asked softly, as Keith braided her hair. Claire couldn't do it herself anymore, and after Naomi hadn't been affected by their appearances, she begun to care what she looked like again. Naomi was glad that these two were comfortable enough to come in without any incentive, as well as taking off their large hoodies on their own.

"Yeah! I should have them in few days, tops," Naomi replied excited.

"That's good. Then we'll be able to show ourselves to the public," Rain added.

"How come you guys haven't showed yourselves yet?" Naomi asked.

"Well, we wouldn't the whole gang if we excluded you! Silly!" Sarah declared, giving Naomi a goofy smile. Behind that smile, Naomi knew that Sarah was saying that she should've known that.

"Oh, thanks you guys," Naomi said, blushing a bit. That's when Dustin stood up.

"Where are you going?" Tabby asked.

"There's too much sappiness and mush in here, I need a breather. I'm going out for a smoke," Dustin said walking towards the door. No one argued with him to stay; he was just like that. Dustin had been a loner most of his life, and while he was used to being with a lot of people now, every now and then, he just needed to be alone. If he couldn't do that, they all knew that their worst fears would come to life.

Continuing on with the conversation, Naomi asked, "Are guys going to wear costumes like Static and Gear, or wear normal clothing like the Meta-Breeds did?"

Just as Will was going to answer the question, Tabby, who had been keeping an eye on Dustin, asked, "Dustin? How come you're just standing there?" This caught everyone else's attention. Turning around to see why Dustin had stopped, everyone saw Naomi's mom, who should have been at work, come into their view. They just stared, and she stared right back.

It took Naomi' mom some time to gain her composure. It was one thing to see a stranger in your house, _in their boots_, a cigarette in their mouth, about to take a smoke. But it was another to see eight more strangers with _**your daughter**_, and they seemed all so _**chummy**_. After at least a few minutes of staring, including that smoking boy sitting back in _his_ seat, Naomi's mother finally found her voice. "Oh, hello. I didn't know Naomi had guests over. Are you hungry? I can make you some food, before I go back to work," she said, her voice sounding strained. "Naomi, would you be a dear and help me in the kitchen." Naomi didn't move.

Just before she entered the kitchen, Naomi's mother turned around and said, "Naomi, now." She hadn't raised her voice, but it was the most frightening tone a child can hear from any parent, and Naomi rushed after her mother, afraid. The others didn't know if they should leave or not, but they clearly felt worried for Naomi's safety. Just as Naomi entered the kitchen, her mother bombarded her with questions. "Who are those people? Why are they in my house? Why don't I know them? Why didn't you tell me!?"

Naomi cowered beneath them all, but her mother was, most of the time, a gentle woman, she did, after a while, notice she was frightening her daughter. Calming down, well, only slightly, Naomi's mother gave her child time to answer those rapid-fired questions. "They're my friends. Friends are, um, allowed into your house. You don't know them 'cause I haven't introduced them to you yet. And I didn't tell you about them because they're bang babies, and aren't exactly comfortable with authority figures. I was going to tell you eventually." Naomi said softly, hoping her timidity would appeal to her mother to forgive them and her actions.

"They're bang babies!?" her mother exclaimed, a little shocked. Naomi nodded meekly, still trying to appeal to her mother's good side. Sighing, Naomi's mother gave her a small smile. "And you thought I was an authority figure?" Naomi chuckled from the response, her mother brightening up the mood around them.

"Now, let's make some snacks!" her mother exclaimed happily. Naomi laughed brightly. Making sure her friends didn't bail on her; Naomi stuck her head out, giving them a brilliant smile.

"Do you guys have any objections to date squares?" Naomi asked. The smile, and the question, caused everyone to let out a sigh of relief. They weren't going to be kicked out, and Naomi wasn't in shit, thankfully. No one objected, and within twenty minutes everyone was well fed and happily chatting away.

Naomi's mother had to leave, since she had only come home on her lunch break, but no one minded. The veil had been the lifted, the ice broken, Naomi's friends were cool to come over whenever they wanted to, and her mother would make sure they were fed. And she can then pick their brains some more. Before she left, she whispered to Naomi, "I want all their names and information on them when I return from work." Naomi laughed sheepishly, but agreed, it wasn't too much to ask for.

---

Naomi's mother was crying, not because she was sad, oh no, it was quite the opposite. Driving along the freeway, she sniffed a little, trying to stop her crying. It was rare for her to cry so freely, but when it came to her daughter's happiness, anything could, would, affect her to act so.

Ever since the second Big Bang, no, even before that, Naomi had been miserable. With Francis becoming that criminal bang baby Hotstreak, and then she herself becoming a bang baby, it was to no surprise. But all she ever wanted was for her baby to be happy, and since this new group of people, and Richie as well, though she hadn't met him yet, Naomi seemed so much happier. Finding a tissue in the glove compartment, Naomi's mother wiped any tears left on her.

"My baby's happy again."

---

_Come on. Come on! _Richie, who was dressed in his Gear costume, thought. He and Static were in pursuit of two robbers who had just stolen a couple thousand from the nearby bank. Virgil was really ecstatic about finally having some action, but Richie just wanted to return to the gas station to finish work on Naomi's sunglasses. He snapped back to reality when a bullet from one of the robber's guns whizzed by his head, scratching the surface of his helmet.

"Gear! Concentrate!" Static yelled at him, before he used his electricity to grab the guns of each robber, and then destroy each of them. One of the two was so shocked by this that he paused from escaping, giving time for Static to electrify him to a nearby alleyway wall.

"S-sorry," Gear said, a little shaken. _Stop thinking about Naomi's sunglasses! _Richie mentally scolded. Since he was closer, Gear threw a metal ball at the remaining robber. Flying through the air, it extended out its tentacles, before latching onto the fleeing robber. It wrapped its tentacles around the criminal, halting him and causing him to trip and fall to the ground.

Picking up the money, Richie watched Virgil attach the now detained criminals to a street lamp, to be apprehended by the police. Taking the money back to the bank Static and Gear were thanked before leaving. They then flew back to the gas station, and when they reached their destination, Richie, after taking off his helmet to be fixed by backpack, quickly went back to work.

"Umm, Rich?" Virgil asked, taking off his mask. He was slightly worried about his friend, who was becoming borderline obsessive on finishing this project.

"Yeah?" Richie replied, not taking his eyes from his work to look at Virgil.

"Maybe I should just patrol by myself for the rest of the day. You seem really…umm… determined to finish those sunglasses," Virgil said, a little hesitant.

"Okay, sure," Richie said, not really paying much attention.

Leaving Richie to his work, Virgil put his mask back on. Just as he was about to leave, he turned around at the door and asked, "You really like her don't you?"

Now that question definitely surprised Richie, so much that not only did it bring him from his work, but also caused him to turn around and face Virgil. "I don't know what you mean?" Richie said after he came over his shock from the question, a little confused.

"What I mean is actually what I said. You like her don't you?" Virgil repeated, sighing a little bit.

"What kind of question is that?" Richie said, trying to turn it into a joke. "I've got work to do," he added, turning back around and getting back to his work. He needed to finish her sunglasses as quickly as he could; he couldn't afford distractions. Not to mention that he was wanted Virgil to leave; he really didn't want to answer those questions right now.

Well, Virgil did not leave. Instead, he walked back to Richie and grabbed onto his shoulder, turning him around to face him. Richie, surprised, cursed his rotating office chair. "C'mon Rich, tell me the truth." Virgil said calmly.

Richie sighed in defeat. "Okay, fine, you're right. I do really care for her, and I just feel this connection towards her. I know I've only seen her, like twice, but I don't know. It's hard to explain. I just want to see her happy," Richie admitted, a little astonished by what came out of his own mouth.

"All right, just don't become obsessive," Virgil said, half-joking. He was just worried about his best friend, and he didn't want to see him get hurt.

"Yeah," Richie said, laughing half-heartedly. "You better go back to patrolling," he added.

"You're right. Don't work yourself into exhausted. Bye," Virgil said before leaving the gas station.

"Bye," Richie called after him, unsure that Virgil even heard him, before continuing his work on those sunglasses.

---

Back at Naomi's house, Naomi was saying her good-byes to her new found friends. "I'll call when I either get the glasses, or when I know exactly when I'll get them, so we can plan to make ourselves official!" Naomi called out to them while they were leaving, from the door. The sun had almost completely sunk beneath the horizon; Naomi was barely affected by the sun's dying rays.

"Okay!" one of them called out. In the growing distance Naomi heard another one shout, "and tell you mom that she makes the best date squares ever!" this caused Naomi to smile.

After they had left Naomi's seeing range, she let out a tired, but happy sigh. Today had been a good day. Just as Naomi went back inside, and was about to close the door, someone grabbed her arm, halting her movement forward. She was about to throw a punch at whoever it was, when she saw who it was and stopped. "Hey Nomie," Francis said, freezing whatever control she still had over her body.

"F-Francis. What a-are y-you doing here?" Naomi stammered out, barely a whisper. She had lowered her head, trying to not look at him. It hurt to see him now.

"What happened to your hair?" he asked, completely ignoring her question. Naomi felt him gently run his fingers through her hair. The only thing keeping her from not leaning into his touch and letting out a content sigh was the clinking of those beads. He always knew exactly what to do to turn Naomi into mush, and it was taking all her concentration on those beads and willpower to stay focused.

"T-that's none of your business! W-w-what are you doing here?" Naomi repeated, trying to stay together.

"Came to see you. Why else would I come?" Francis said smiling, as he lifted Naomi's head up, by placing his hand under her jaw. This enabled Naomi's to glaze into his blazing green eyes. "I missed you," he added.

Naomi tried to look down, but she couldn't. Not by moving her head, or her eyes, or both, could she escape his heated stare. "I-I-I missed y-you too," Naomi muttered, her eyes still desperately trying to get away from those eyes of his. Naomi was weak whenever Francis looked into her eyes like that, and she just couldn't help but blurt out things that she was trying to suppress.

"Don't worry, you're going to see a lot more of me," Francis said, his smile growing. Naomi's eyes widened in shock and alarm. He didn't mean… "I've got to go now, but I'll be back soon," he added, before placing a affectionate kiss on Naomi's forehead. He then let go of her chin, and left, waving good-bye.

It took until he had left her eyesight, but, somehow, Naomi was able to snap out of the spell he had placed on her. Naomi turned tail and ran back into the house as fast as she could, slamming the door behind her. She then ran up to her room, slamming her door even harder, and louder, this time. Naomi then leaned against the door, breathing uneasily, and it was not due to all the running she just did. Francis had a way of doing that.

Taking a deep breath, Naomi began to slowly change into her pyjamas. No longer having any strength left, Naomi collapsed onto her bed, before she begun to cry. She cried so hard that she cried herself to sleep, worrying what Francis was planning to do…

To be continued…

---

I finally finished it! Yay for me! Though the ending was a little angst-y. Oh well, thanks for all my reviewers!

LaBOBuren: thank you for the wonderful, though very… hyper reviews. Though it was your… um… enthusiasm that got me to finish this chapter. And the threat, if you could it that, was very humorous. I really enjoyed reading your reviews, gave me a good laugh.

A proud geekfreak: thank you! Here's my next chapter! Hope you enjoy it!

Itha Arrowland: thanks, I try to continue and update as fast as I can.

Glamek Stalker: my writer's block is still with me, well, only with my main stories. I keep writing these one-shots, which have nothing to do with any of my other stories. I'm just glad I was able to finish writing this chapter. Also, I don't think this chapter was _too _boring.

Angel of the Fallen Stars


	9. Honourable Misfits

Hello everyone, I'm back! Some of you may have noticed that the chapters were updated. I decided to 'fix' the chapters a little bit before adding a new chapter. Sorry for such a long wait!

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Static Shock. Please don't be mean and sue me, I don't even have the enough money to afford a lawyer.

---

Richie's New, Dark Friend

Chapter 8: Honourable Misfits

---

Rolling over, Naomi sleepily glanced at the clock. 10:52 am glared back at her in the darkness created from her blinds. Yelping in surprise and anguish, Naomi nearly leapt out of bed. _**10:52 am! **_Naomi mentally screamed at herself. Not even caring about taking the blankets off her, Naomi dashed out of her bed and into her bathroom. Naomi wanted to smack her head into the bathroom mirror. She couldn't believe she slept in so late, she was supposed to meet Rain and the others at 11:30 am, and then go out with Richie at noon! How was she to make them both in time!?

Jumping out of her clothes and into the shower, Naomi didn't even wait until the water warmed up. Shivering, she scrubbed her hair and body as quickly as the human possibly can do without severe injury. Nearly tripping twice, Naomi flew out of the shower, hair in one towel, her body wrapped in another. Rummaging through her drawers and closet, Naomi managed to find a decent, though plain, outfit. Slipping into her plain black skirt, and equally plain pale blue blouse, Naomi heard the doorbell ring.

Racing down the stairs as she awkwardly put on comfy white socks on, Naomi covered her eyes with her hand as she opened the door. Hearing the sounds of laughing and chuckling, Naomi smiled saying, "What?" Feeling a few sets of hands on her shoulders, Naomi was lightly pushed, or led, back into the house. Only uncovering her eyes when she heard the door being shut, Naomi's smile grew when she saw her friends.

"You look… nice," Tabby said between laughs. Naomi and everyone else laughed as well. Naomi knew she looked winded, she hadn't brushed her hair yet, and knew it was disarrayed.

Touching her still wet hair lightly, Naomi asked, "that bad?"

Sarah snorted loudly. "Worse," she answered. Then, after giving Naomi a one over, asked, "what's with the 'Plain Jane' outfit?"

Taking her hairbrush out of the pocket of her skirt, Naomi led everyone to the living room. Smiling when Maya took the brush from her, Naomi sat down in front of Maya, on the floor, as everyone else took their seats. Now answering Sarah's question, Naomi replied, "well, I wanted an outfit I didn't care if it got slightly ruined when I 'changed' it, and also the outfit has the perfect design for my costume." Sarah nodded.

While Maya gently, but still strongly enough to comb through the tangles, brushed Naomi's hair, Rain went straight to business. "All right, now that we're here, let's get to work." Looking at Naomi, she added, "how are you for time?"

Giving Maya her ribbons and elastics, Naomi replied, "well, I am meeting my friend at noon, and that's when I'll get those glasses. You guys will have to leave around quarter or ten to. Good thing I had changed the costumes beforehand." Naomi had decided to keep the identity of Richie a secret, mainly because if he knew about them, then he would learn that Naomi hadn't been completely honest with him. The others were okay with that, as long as Naomi said it was okay.

"Sure," Will said, smiling his kind smile of his. Using his authoritarian voice, he added, "all right people, get into positions!" Slightly fascinated, Naomi watched as Sarah, Tobey and Tabby stuck at their arms.

"Since Dustin is not here today, he has been taken out of the pool," Rain said, her voice matching William's. "And Tobey represents Maya as well, since they are partners. You may start."

Moving their forearms up and down, Tobey, Tabby, and Sarah called out seriously "Rock! Paper! Scissors!" When 'scissors' was called, their arms stopped moving and everyone looked at their hands. Tabby and Sarah's hands were both balled into a fist, while Tobey's hand was flat, fingers together.

"Paper beats rock, Tobey and Maya will face Static!" William exclaimed, as Tobey and Maya cheered, while Tabby and Sarah looked slightly disappointed. Everyone laughed, enjoying themselves. Everyone had decided it wasn't fair if it was ten against two, so they planned beforehand to choose who would fight them. And the best way to do decide that was with a game.

"All right, now for the second pool!" Rain said. Giving Naomi an almost look of concern, she added, "Nomes, you sure you want to be in the pool? You do have a date today." Naomi nodded, her beads clinking together; she had kept those beaded braids in. "I made the costumes, at least let me be in the pool."

"All right. Rain is representing me as well, so let's go!" Will said, watching Rain with that look he only ever uses for her. Moving their arms, Claire, Keith, Rain, and Naomi shouted out "Rock! Paper! Scissors!" With the final arm swing, everyone's arm stop. Naomi and Claire both had their hands in fists, while Rain and Keith had two fingers out.

"Rock beats scissors! Naomi and Claire will face off alone!" William said smiling, before adding, "Go!" Three arm swings later, Claire had a flat hand, while Naomi had two fingers sticking out. "Scissors beats paper! Naomi will be the one to face Gear!"

Naomi didn't look exactly the happiest, but it was what she had chosen. Smiling at them all, Naomi said, "I'll be at the park by our school, so I should expect you guys around 1:30ish? Not to sound rude, but I think you guys should be going now, okay?" No one argued, as they got up, heading for the door. Whoever shut the door behind them said, "see you".

Sighing, Naomi went into the kitchen, hungry. Richie should be here soon…

---

Getting everyone's attention, Tobey asked, while they were walking, "hey, do you think that's Naomi's friend?" Everyone looked to see a nerdy blonde boy around their age, holding a small bag, walking towards where they had just left. He glanced at them for a second, before turning his head back to the direction he was heading.

"Could be…," Rain said, watching him carefully. They all watched him as they walked out of this suburban neighbourhood.

---

Hearing the knock from the kitchen, Naomi called out, "It's open Richie!" Leaving the kitchen, Naomi smiled sweetly when she saw Richie closing the door behind him. Seeing the smile, Richie sheepishly smiled back, blushing a little. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," Naomi replied. Peeking behind him, where his arms were, Naomi asked, "what do you have there?"

Looking over his shoulder, behind him, Richie's smile grew. Bringing his arms in front of him, showing the small bag, he said, "here." Face brightening, Naomi asked, "is this…?" Richie nodded.

Snatching the bag out of his hands, Naomi raced to the living room, sitting down on one of the many couches. Waiting for Richie to follow, Naomi smile grew even more. Sitting down beside her, Richie gave her a nod to tell her that she could open it. Opening it, and then digging her hand into the bag, Naomi pulled out a pair of sunglasses. Examining them slowly, Naomi said breathlessly, "they're beautiful." She knew this was amazing craftsmanship, and couldn't wait to test them out.

Standing up, arm out to accept hers, Richie asked, "Shall we?" Laughing at his dorkiness, Naomi stood up with him. She didn't take his arm, and Richie was slightly disappointed, but didn't say anything. Following him to the door, Naomi took a deep breath, as she closed her eyes, placing the glasses on her nose. Letting Richie guide her by lightly pushing her with his hand on the dip of her back, Richie led her outside. Keeping the door open, just in case Naomi would have to run back inside, Richie said, "okay, open your eyes."

Opening her eyes, Naomi marvelled at what she saw. All her senses told her it was high noon, yet her eyes could only see the darkness of night. Turning around slowly, her eyes were convinced that it was the night. It was perfect, even looking around, or over, or under them, all her eyes could see was the night. As long she kept these glasses on, she would no problems with going outside. Her anxious face brightened immediately with a large, happy grin. Turning around to face, Richie was thrilled to see Naomi grinning greatly.

"They work perfectly!" Naomi exclaimed happily, jumping on Richie, nearly knocking him over, in such of a strange, but welcomed, hug. "Th-thanks," Richie replied, still a little shocked, wrapping his arms around Naomi's waist, more securely. It was aggravating that Naomi would never allow him to know where she drew her lines, but that was one of her many charms.

Mutually letting go of each other, Richie shyly reached out for Naomi's hand. He couldn't but help but wonder if her nails had always been painted black. Not objecting, Naomi accepted his hand, holding it loosely, yet securely. That was how Naomi acted with Richie; loosely holding onto him, yet it was secure enough that he wouldn't be going anywhere. Smiling some more, Richie asked, "shall we go to the park now?" Nodding, Naomi allowed him to lead her once more.

---

Naomi didn't regret her decision. She had a wonderful time with Richie. Walking peacefully with Richie, Naomi glanced at the clock on the library's entrance. Those hands ticking slowly revealed it was 1:29 pm. Watching the minute hand move to the six, Naomi began to hear shouts and screams. _Right on time. _Naomi thought smugly.

"What was that?" Richie asked, looking surprised. Naomi shook her head, trying to act just as surprised, not trusting herself to speak. Turning to where they had heard the screams, they saw a horde of people running towards them. Hearing someone shout 'it's the meta-humans!', Naomi and Richie saw a group eight or nine marching around displaying their powers freely, terrorizing the civilians.

Since Naomi was trying to hold down her laughter, she didn't notice Richie sigh sadly, and vice-versa. Naomi couldn't help herself, she thought they looked hilarious trying to act all menacing. Richie sighed because he was sad that new bang babies just _had _to first show up on his date.

As the panicked horde of civilians rushed past them, Naomi purposely got swept with them. Little did she know, Richie, who could have caught her, didn't hinder Naomi from distancing them, since it would be easier if they were separated. When each of them thought they were further apart enough from the other, they each slipped away to disguise themselves. Luckily Richie always carried around Backpack, as well as his costume, in his backpack. But even with some of the costume already on, a precaution Virgil and him decided on long ago, it was still ridiculously difficult to get the damn costume on! Richie would have been seething with jealously if he knew how easily it was for Naomi, and her friends, to put their costumes on. (Dustin, the designer of the clothes, and Naomi, the maker, made sure that the costumes were easy to put on and take off.)

Glancing all around, judging to see if anyone would catch her in the act, Naomi pulled the ribbons out of her hair, letting her slowly darkening hair cascade out and down her back. Loosely wrapping those ribbons around her legs, with the ends lying on her shoes, Naomi changed them. Instead of black ribbons and suede slip-on's, they were black ballet-esc boots with black ribbon attached to them wrapped tightly around her legs to mid-calf in the way ballerina's would criss-cross them. Touching her plain black skirt, Naomi changed it so it was a flowing, full black skirt that now reached past her knees, a few layers of dark pink crinoline underneath. Changing her blouse to a nice shade of maroon tank top, made of very sturdy material, and the sleeves became stripped black and the same dark pink of her crinoline arm warmers. Closing her eyes, Naomi took off her glasses, changing them into a black leather choker with blood red bat wings dangling from it. As her eyes and hair became pure black, Naomi darkened her lip-gloss and eye shadow immensely; hoping darker make-up would conceal her identity better.

Now fully disguised, Naomi, in the chaos of it all, managed to join her friends without being noticed. Well, she hoped it had gone on unnoticed. She would have been relieved to know that not only no one notice in sneak in, but also not even notice the total amount of people changing.

Just as one of them ask Naomi how'd they look, Virgil and Richie, as Static and Gear of course, flew in powers blazing. From the crowd of people still there in the park gave out a unanimous cheer. A few of their group, namely Tabby and Sarah, snorted at the crowd's response. Everyone else smiled, or smirked, at their retort.

Trying to sound cool, Static jested, "Why did you take so long to show yourselves? Afraid?" He smirked at his own insult. Gear shook his head; Static was too cocky sometimes. Though he couldn't blame him today, he was just so ecstatic with the arrival of some new bang babies.

"Well, we wanted you two to have a time to yourselves to peacefully fight crime before we kick your asses!" Came Tabby's retort. The others didn't even try to hold their laughter or snickering down.

Enraged by what she had said, Static sunk down, Gear following, just hovering above the ground. "You would say that since it's all of you against us two. We'll defeat you all anyway." Static was egging them on, and Gear wondered if they could defeat them all. They had never beaten a group _this _big.

Laughter came from the group, before Naomi, feeling more confident for some reason, most likely from her friends backing her, replied, "Don't worry, big boys. You'll only need to fight me, and these two. We want to beat you two fairly." Maya and Tobey moved to Naomi's side, as she gestured to them.

Maya and Tobey had matching costumes, which resembled the last gymnastic uniforms they wore that they actually liked. Made of a light, form-fitting, almost completely skin tight, and flexible, but very durable material, Maya's was dark pink while Tobey's was a dark green, and they complimented very nicely. Each shirt closed by overlapping one side, with a latch at the neck with a cool looking cat or dog head as the button at the end. Maya's sleeves ended right before her elbows, while Tobey's ended at the mid of his very muscular biceps. On the back of each shirt was a sick, wild looking design of a dog and a cat, depending on who it was, in a neon tint of the opposite's colour. Each of their pants ended just below their knees, and Maya had a skirt overtop of her pants ending at her mid thigh with slits on each side. Also, each had slip-on boots that ended at the top of their ankles, as well as leather finger-less gloves that do up with a latch. Maya's braided hair was done up in a high pony, while Tobey's hair was gelled back, and each of them had pointy masks that covered the area around their eyes, hiding their identity well. In these outfits, Naomi could see, and was surprised, that Maya and Tobey were so muscular.

"Yeah? And who are you guys?" Gear asked, watching as the two animal-like people with their matching costumes moved to face Virgil, and as the girl that spoke face himself. The rest of the group started, slightly, moving backwards, so they could have more room.

"The name's Dark Angel," the girl with the long raven hair said. Now closer to him, Gear could see that this bang baby, this 'Dark Angel', was very attractive, similar to Naomi.

"Mine's Catseye," the animal boy, who did remind you of a cat, said, smiling, revealing his fanged teeth.

"And I'm his partner… Wolves Dancer," the animal girl added, smiling her fanged smile as well. Maya took a hold of Tobey's hand, giving it a loving, though she didn't realize it was loving, squeeze. Tobey returned the squeeze, turning his smile to her. It went unnoticed by Static and Gear, but not of their friends, who were wondering about the change of Maya's name.

_--- Flashback ---_

_"Umm, Maya?" Tobey called hesitantly, getting her attention, as she was lost in thought. It was just after practise and they were working extra, since competition was quickly approaching. _

_Turning around, a little out of it, stopping her stretching. "Yes?" Maya stood up then, to begin her standing up stretches. _

_"Tomorrow's the big day, huh," Tobey said, talking about showing themselves as bang babies. He sounded a bit weird, Maya thought so anyway. _

_"Yeah, so?" _

_"Nervous?" Maya shrugged, trying to hide the fact that she was terrified. Of course she never could hide anything from him. "Maya…"_

_"Okay, okay, I'm terrified." She lowered her head, a little ashamed that she was scared._

_"Yeah… me too." Maya's head snapped up, surprised. Tobey didn't admit his emotions often, something must be up. Then he added, "About your name…"_

_Maya snapped. "Oh, don't you start now! There's nothing wrong with-"_

_"Whoa, whoa." Tobey said, his arm raised defensively. Taking a hold of Maya's tense shoulders gently, he added, "I wasn't trying to pick a fight." _

_Looking at his caring face, as well as hearing that gentle voice, Maya's shoulders relaxed, lowering. "I know you weren't, sorry." _

_Giving a half shrug, Tobey said, "It's nothing, I was just thinking. What about 'Wolves Dancer'?" Maya's face lightens. _

_"Wolves Dancer?" Tobey nods, smiling. "I don't… hate it." Giving Tobey a warm smile, Maya shrugged his hands off her shoulders. He knew that she was actually really grateful._

_"So, should we start with lifts or throws?"_

_--- End ---_

"Oh yeah?" Static said, his tone arrogant, breaking their rare tender moment. Remembering where they were, they swiftly let go of the other's hands. As Static rushed towards them, his hands crackling with electricity, Catseye's linked arms threw Wolves Dancer, on bent knees, into the air. Surprised by how high she flew, he watched her fly over him rolling, smiling, and pointing to where her partner was. Reminded, Static returned his gaze back to Catseye, only to see him extremely close to himself before he was punched so strongly in the gut that he flew off his discus, right to where Wolves Dancer landed perfectly.

Watching Static get hit one more time, Gear flew after him. He didn't even move a metre when a very large black energy force field halted him from going any further. Winding around, Gear saw his opponent, hand glowing with the same energy as the force field. Smirking, she said, with a great amount of boldness, "You're not going anywhere."

Smiling, but still worried for his friend, he replied, "Yeah? Let's just see." Reading the data analysis from backpack, Gear read that there was a not even a one percent amount of energy used in that force field compared to the energy levels coming from her. Gear internally sighed, it would take a lot of effort to get her to drop that force field, and she knew it, telling from that cocky smirk on her face.

Discreetly taking one of his capturing balls out, he threw it at her as hard as he could. Seeing Dark Angel's eyebrows rise in surprise, Gear silently cheered. That was until she caught the thing. Gear watched, in anguish, as it desperately tried to wrap its tentacles around her as it bubbled painfully. Within less than a minute the poor thing had been completely melted. Seeing the flashes of red, in danger and warning, on his mask from backpack, Gear was quite frightful. From what he'd seen, and from the information backpack had analysed, he knew that he would be easily defeated, or worse completely melted in her dark energy.

Backing away slightly, Gear was forcibly stopped. Turning his head so he could see behind him, Gear saw what stopped him: arms from the force field. Feeling his skin burn, like it was on fire, from where the arms of energy were holding him, Gear didn't even try to struggle. Lowered to the ground, the arms broke off the force field, connecting to the ground. Strangely enough, he was in a comfortable sitting position, aside from the burning sensation. Glancing to the side, he saw Dark Angel standing beside him, smiling her cocky, and mocking, smile.

"You could have grabbed with that force field at anytime right?" Gear asked, giving her an embarrassed smile. Her smiling growing into a grin, he watched as she sat down beside him.

"Well, I wanted you to know before I defeated you that you stood no chance against me," she said, raising her hand. When her hand dropped seconds later, the force field was gone, and Gear could see Static, Catseye, and Wolves Dancer again. "I want you to see Static's defeat as well," she added.

And sure enough, there was Static on one knee, weakly defending himself against the two. Though he was fairing better, since the other two had some burn marks, not to mention that both of their hair was sticking up hysterically. All around them were craters where Static had missed. Firing a large bolt of electricity, Gear saw he was running on low. Just as it was about to hit them, Catseye flung his partner so strangely and then took most of the blow, because he couldn't dodge properly in time. But that was quite the throw, since Wolves Dancer hit Static right on, causing them to roll in a sort of brawl. When they stopped though, Static was on the bottom unconscious, covered in bruises and cuts.

Standing up, Dark Angel pointed her finger at Gear's chest. Slightly cringing, thinking he was going to die, Gear watched in shock and intrigue while she wrote a word on his chest in dark energy. In big, bold, burning letters was the word 'loser'. Striding over to the unconscious Static, she also wrote the word 'loser' on his chest. Then, with a flick of her wrist, Gear was set free from his bounds. Standing up, Gear was confused.

"You're free to go. We defeated you guys, there's no need to continue, right?" one of the others said.

Slowly walking towards his fallen friend, cautious, he asked his opponent, "that's it?" Behind her, he saw that Wolves Dancer was helping the barely injured Catseye up. Backpack confirmed it, their costumes were electricity resistant. They had been prepared, impressive.

Picking Static up, with a little difficulty, Dark Angel replied, "that's it. Though you're going to feel burning on your chest for a couple of days." Smiling she added, as Gear was flying away. "See you soon!"

Returning to the group, Naomi, Tobey, and Maya were greeted with cheers. Seeing newsreporters approaching, everyone quickly dispersed, not giving any of them a chance for a 'close-up'. When Naomi was sure that no one was following her, or would see her, she reverted her costume, quickly putting on her sunglasses before she braided her hair with her ribbons back in. Naomi then went in search for Richie, hoping she would be able to find him.

---

Richie flew off to their gas station, lying Virgil down on one of the counters. After backpack gave him the okay that Virgil will live, needing no medical attention. Richie, who remembered that Naomi was still at the park, flew back as fast as he could, hopeful that Virgil would wake soon, and Naomi wouldn't be suspicious. Arriving there, he quickly changed back into his civvies, without notice. Not even five minutes wandering around, did he see Naomi walking around as well, looking for something, most likely him.

"Naomi!" Richie called, waving his arm to catch her gaze. Looking to where she heard her name, Naomi's face immediately brightened when she saw him. Running toward the other, Richie had the urged to hug her and tell how awful he and Virgil had been humiliated. He held it in though.

"Richie, I was looking for you. Can you believe it, those two getting beaten so easily?" Naomi said, sounding astonished. Naomi glanced towards the damaged that Static caused from all his missed shots, so she missed Richie rub his still burning chest, remembering the beautifully cocky Dark Angel.

"Yeah…" Richie said. "I guess our date's ruined." He added with a sour laugh. Taking his arm with hers, Naomi smiled, saying, "You can walk me home." Laughing a true laugh, Richie did just that.

The others also managed to safely escape.

---

Claire, hanging onto the talons of Keith as they flew away, said, "That was fun."

Looking down at his best friend, Keith smiled, "Yeah." Passing a few more buildings, he added, "are you okay down there?"

"Yes, but I'm worried when it's our turn," Claire replied, looking up to see him paying attention to what was straight ahead so he wouldn't hit anything.

"You'll be great, we both will. We have each other, and the rest of the group's support," Keith said, hoping he could reassure himself as well.

"You're right…" Claire mumbled to herself, but Keith heard her and smiled. The returned home without a glitch.

---

Tabby and Sarah just took some of their costume off and switched it with the other. Smirking, Sarah said, "I'm glad I forgot to bring our civilian clothes, I get to see you less clothed than normal."

"I would almost think you did this on purpose if you weren't such a ditz," Tabby replied, hooking her arm with her girlfriend's. Sarah laughed, bumping their hips together.

Passing a movie theatre, Sarah asked, "wanna go to a movie? There's this new gory flick that I heard may actually be good."

"Sure, think we can get in for free if we flirt enough?" Tabby asked, smiling, shaking her hips to an non-existent song.

"Probably," Sarah replied, kissing her on the lips before they got in line.

---

Rain and William who lived five minutes from each other, live close by, so they just went home. After each one went home and changed, William asked, at his house, "do you want to stay for dinner?"

Picking at one of her bracelets, Rain thought about it. "Sure, but dinner won't be for a few hours."

"That's what a movie is for," Will replied, smiling his kindest, and slightly mischievous smile. Laughing, Rain allowed him to lead her to the living room.

During the movie, there was a silent, mutual agreement when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, as she leaned into him.

---

Running into a single handicapped washroom, Maya and Tobey hid in there. "You okay?" Maya asked, as she locked the door.

"Yeah," Tobey replied, taking off his gloves, before unbuttoning the latch on his shirt. "You?" Maya nodded, as she followed his example.

Looking into the mirror, Maya winced. "I look terrible." Turning the cold knob, Tobey chuckled.

Taking off his burnt in odd places shirt, Tobey said, "I could've told you that." Feeling cold water being splashed onto him, Tobey ducked away. "Hey! Cats hate water!"

"I know. And you don't look so hot yourself," Maya said, laughing as she splashed more water at him. Dodging, Tobey managed to manoeuvre so that he was close enough that he could splash her as well. Squealing, Maya moved to the other side of the sink, so that they were opposite the other.

More splashing, squealing, laughing, and running around ensued, including Maya's shirt being pulled off, before they found themselves with Maya forced against a wall, Tobey flushed against her. Each of their breaths coming in huffs, warming the other, even though there were soaked from splashing each other so. Feeling herself being lifted, Maya wrapped arms around his shoulders, as her legs circled around his waist. Bare skins pressed against the other, the two brought their heads closer, mouths about to touch when…

Three loud bangs came from the door, before a voice called through, "is someone in there?"

"Yeah!" Maya called back, since they were in the woman's handicapped washroom. Brought back to reality, they looked at each other with embarrassed and ashamed looks. What would they have done? Letting go of Tobey's waist, he lowered Maya down onto the ground. They then changed in opposite ends of the room, an awkward silence between them. They left together, but they didn't speak once, too shy and embarrassed.

---

Hotstreak deciding to stay underground until Naomi was his, went to the park, in disguise of course. He was surprised to find a new group of bang babies. But really made his day was that not only did they totally cream those two losers, but also did it so easily and with only a small amount of people. The animal twins were pretty strong considering that their powers were actually weak.

But who really caught his attention was this 'Dark Angel' girl. True he didn't get an extremely good look at her, but he had to admit, the similarities between her and Naomi so many. Her height, her build, her black hair, those small beaded braids, the way she walked… He could go on forever. Not to mention he saw Naomi right after Dark Angel disappeared, in the park. Though her hair is grey now, there must be a connection… but what?

---

Yeah, I finished another chapter! Sorry it took so long. I hope people can forgive me. There was some action in this chapter, and more to come. Also, I won't describe what everyone's costumes look like until they actually have to fight. I kind of hope that the flashback wasn't too awkward in there, maybe I shouldn't have written it in italics? I bet you can guess who the couples will be for my original characters. And what about Hotstreak at the end of this chapter? Please review and I'll update as fast as I can!

Reviewers:

LaBOBuren: that's true, though people can be hyper and psycho at the same time. Try not to be hyper and psycho at the same time in your next review (if you do review [I wouldn't expect it since I've been gone so long). I can only handle one at a time. As for Richie being yours, you can have him, if you either become a cartoon character like him, or if you win legal rights over him. Thanks for the review!

J. E. Chadwick: thank you for both reviews! I was trying to write differently, but now mostly I write in third person, so now it's all the same. It is easier. Don't worry, I haven't given up on this, I'm too stubborn. No matter how long it takes, I will finish this.

reginna northwyn: thank you for the review, and the helpful advice. I haven't seen the show in so long, I've forgotten some of the information. But did you have to yell? (Cries)

Queen of the Mary Sue: thank you for the review. I'm trying, if slowly, to finish this, so be patient.

BrokenAngel1753: I'm trying my best. Hope you enjoy this chapter, and thanks for the review!

Angel of the Fallen Stars


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